October 1, 2017 3 min to read

The Florida Project

Cute, complicated, and deeply unpleasant. I both admire the Florida Project and at the same time never want to see it again.

by Zach Saul

Watching the Florida Project is an excruciatingly painful experience - this is a movie about children, but the backdrop of a mother on society’s fringe is painted with such intimacy, I was cringing throughout and left the theatre with a bit of a stomach ache. Sean Baker - the director of this movie really, really wants you to understand how the other half lives. The Florida project is two hours during which he grabs you by the back of the neck, forces your eyes open, and asks you to watch a tragedy unfold for young Moonee. There are two realities that exist at The Magic Castle (a discount motel where the film takes place). The first is the one for the kids in which they occasionally make morally questionable decisions but are relentlessly positive and find joy despite not knowing where there next meal will come from. The second is the one Halley and the adults face in which consequences are real, rent must be paid and children somehow someway must be fed. As the movie progresses anger, pettiness, deception, and lies slowly catch up with Halley and the devastation surfaces to a degree Moonee can no longer distract herself.

Watching The Florida Project is an experience that asks you to evaluate morals and absolutes on a sliding scale and consider circumstance as you watch different characters behave badly on screen. Halley (the main character other that her daughter Moonee) behaves reprehensibly throughout and is the most challenging to relate to, but by the end we at least get a deeper understanding of the cycle that might create a person like Halley for whom consequences have no meaning. Her daughter Moonee in many ways acts as a lens to what happens when a child is taught there’s no escape, and no way out of life on society’s fringe. The hopelessness of a place like The Magic Castle helps you understand why it’s difficult for many characters to summon ambition - as they feel they’re being set up to fail.

The Good: The children in The Florida Project are an absolute joy to watch. Its clear much of the dialogue was unscripted - as the stream of consciousness thoughts Moonee and her friends spew is wonderfully strange and joyous. In addition, the juxtaposition between the children’s reality and the adults reality was really effectively composed in this movie. Despite the discomfort I had while watching it - its abundantly clear Sean Baker wanted me to be uncomfortable - and well…..mission accomplished.

The Bad: Movies that are this painful, are rare - and to be completely honest pretty unsettling to watch. The hyper realism with which he shows the slums in Florida is challenging to watch because there’s little to nothing for the viewer to cling onto in this movie. Similar movies in this genre typically feature a “lens” character - someone observing how the other half lives who comes from “our half”. I think for Baker in The Florida Project it’s a bit of a double edged sword; as the lack of a lens adds to the authenticity but weakens the narrative a bit. I Found myself wondering at times why I was being shown particular scenes. I also thought The Florida Project also really lacked a crisper more imaginative score - the emotionally resonant moments would have gotten an extra punch.